Xbox Hires Matthew Ball as Chief Strategy Officer to Revive Its Console Business

Key Highlights

• Matthew Ball is Xbox’s new Chief Strategy Officer

• Ball is expected to focus on Xbox’s console business

• He wants to revive storied Xbox franchises

• Microsoft also hired Scott Van Vliet as CTO

• Van Vliet previously worked on Azure OpenAI infrastructure

• Xbox says the changes aim to improve execution and efficiency

• Chris Schnakenberg was also promoted internally

Xbox has appointed Matthew Ball as its new Chief Strategy Officer, tasking him with strengthening the console side of a gaming division that has been under mounting pressure.

Alongside Ball, Scott Van Vliet has also joined as the new Chief Technology Officer.

Both appointments are part of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma's broader push to rebuild the platform's leadership and sharpen its direction heading into the next generation.

Who Is Matthew Ball?

If you follow the gaming industry closely, Matthew Ball is not a new name. He is a venture capitalist, tech consultant, and the author of the 2022 international bestseller "The Metaverse."

He is perhaps best known for his annual State of Video Gaming report, a comprehensive, data-heavy breakdown of where the gaming industry stands and where it is heading. His analyses are widely read across the business and have earned him a reputation as one of the sharpest minds covering the space.

Ball previously served as head of strategy and planning for Amazon Studios, where he played a significant role in steering the platform toward high-profile exclusive content, including Fallout, The Boys, and Rings of Power.

He is also the CEO of Epyllion, a venture partner at investment group Makers Fund, and a senior advisor at KKR & Co.

According to reports by The Verge, Ball has actually been working with Xbox on strategy since early in Sharma's tenure, with Sharma noting in a memo to staff that he had been "partnering with us on strategy since day 10."

What Is Ball's First Task at Xbox?

His primary focus will be the console business. Xbox hardware has faced steep year-over-year declines, and the challenges are significant. Global memory and storage costs have surged, competition from Sony and Nintendo remains intense, and Valve is preparing to enter the space more aggressively. Ball has not been shy about voicing concern over these issues.

Earlier this year, he spoke plainly about the situation: "We see a lot about the headlines on DRAM. We see a lot of deserved scrutiny among the gamers as to why they're being so negatively impacted by trillion-dollar companies pursuing AI. I actually think that the impacts have been a lot more severe already. If you think that things are bad now, and we're just seeing the quasi-responses, if this continues, it could get much worse."

That context makes his hiring feel like a deliberate choice. Sharma is clearly pulling in someone who already understands the depth of the problem rather than someone who needs to be brought up to speed.

Who Is Scott Van Vliet?

Van Vliet brings a different but equally relevant set of skills. He previously led Azure OpenAI and AI Core infrastructure at Microsoft and also helmed engineering for Microsoft Teams during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before that, he worked across Amazon's gaming efforts, including Alexa, Amazon Game Studios, and the Amazon App Store. He even worked directly on Minecraft: Fire TV Edition.

Going further back, he served as VP of Digital Play at Mattel, where he worked across major brands.

As per The Game Business, Van Vliet's job at Xbox will be to improve how the division builds products so that teams can move faster and deliver stronger results. Given the layoffs and studio closures that hit Microsoft's gaming sector hard in 2025, building internal efficiency is clearly a priority.

Is This the Start of a Bigger Turnaround?

Beyond the console challenge, a Bloomberg interview shed further light on Ball's broader scope at Xbox. He is also expected to help revive storied franchises, though no specific titles have been confirmed. Ball, who describes himself as a lifelong gamer with "thousands of memories in specific basements playing Halo, playing Gears of War," seems personally invested in the mission. He said the opportunity to join a turnaround was "irresistible" when Sharma approached him.

In a recent statement on social media, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney praised the new hires, saying, "That's quite a world class team being assembled and foreshadows serious dedication to the future of gaming for Windows, Xbox, Minecraft, Call of Duty, and the many world class studios in the Microsoft family."

Xbox has also promoted Chris Schnakenberg, a long-time Activision Blizzard veteran, to Corporate Vice President of Partnerships and Business Development. His focus will be on managing relationships with third-party publishers and developers. Additionally, Jason Ronald has taken on leadership of Project Helix, Xbox's upcoming PC-console hybrid that Sharma teased earlier this year.

Sharma commented on all of these changes in an email to staff, stating, "These changes are about strengthening our foundation by creating more clarity and improving execution. As we head toward Showcase and beyond, we'll continue making the changes needed to position Xbox for the future."

The Xbox Showcase is set for Sunday, June 7, followed immediately by a Gears of War: E-Day Direct.